Support assembly

ABSTRACT

A support assembly comprising in combination a support standard having a longitudinal channel defined therein having opposing faces on the sides thereof, each of the faces of the channel having longitudinally extending grooves defined thereupon on either side of a pocket portion disposed therewithin; an intermediate member or connector means disposed in and between said pocket portion and connectable with an article to be supported thereby, said member having an opening defined therethrough extending axially of the article to be supported thereby; and a bolt extendible through said opening in said intermediate member into locking engagement with said grooves in said channel whereupon said standard, said intermediate member and said bolt are integrally joined to support said article when connected thereto. The locking engagement is obtained by the coaction of the grooves on the faces of the channel with the threads on the bolt.

United States Patent 11 1 Shell Dec. 18, 1973 SUPPORT ASSEMBLY [76]inventor: lrving W. Shell, 442 W. Wellington, [57] ABSTRACT Chicago,II]. 60657 A support assembly comprising 1n combmatlon a sup- Filedi1972 port standard having a longitudinal channel defined therein havingopposing faces on the sides thereof, [2]] App. 301,867 each of the facesof the channel having longitudinally ReIated Application Data extendinggrooves defined thereupon on either side of [63] Continuation of Ser.No. 254,289, May 17. 1972. a pock p r i disposed h r i h n; an n rm iatemember or connector means disposed in and be- [52] US. Cl 248/245,248/224, 287/189.36 tween aid pocket portion and connectable with an ar-[51] A47b 47/00 ticle to be supported thereby, said member having'an[58] Field of Search 248/224, 243, 244, opening defined therethroughextending axially of the 248/245 article to be supported thereby; and abolt extendible through said opening in said intermediate member [56]Reference Cited into locking engagement with said grooves in said UNITEDSTATES PATENTS channel whereupon said standard, said intermediate memberand said bolt are integrally joined to support said article whenconnected thereto. The locking en- 3029056 H1962 Brcglia" 248/243gagement is obtained by the coaction of the grooves 3.l43,98l 8/1964Tassell 248/243 x Oh the faces of the channel with the threads thePrimary ExaminerWilliam H. Schultz Attorney-Richard R. Mybeck bolt.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Pats.

SUPPORT ASSEMBLY This application is in part a continuation of mycopending United States patent application Ser. No. 254,289, filed May17, 1972 for Coupling Assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION This invention relates generally to a supportassembly for use in the construction of shelving and partitions and moreparticularly to a novel system of attaching members such as shelfsupports, partitions and the liketo specially designed free standing orwall mounted upright standards whereupon desired assemblies are quicklyand easily created with a minimum of labor and I none of the tedium ofalignment inherent in many of the prior art structures.

Means for connecting a variety of members to each other to create anassembly of predetermined shape 1 and size such as book shelves, roompartitions and the like, are broadly old in the art but as will appear,none have obtained all of the many advantages available from theassembly of the present invention which further substantially eliminatesall of the problems and annoyances which have inherently accompanied theprior art devices.

Representative prior art devices are described in US. Nos. 2,674,431,Apr. 6, 1954,. Attwood; 2,696,l-39,'Dec. 7, 1954, Attwood; Re. 24,133,Mar. 20, 1966 Bloedow; 3,139,960, July 7, 1964, Hammitt et al.; and3,564,666, Feb. 23, 1971, Bold.

A consideration of each of the prior art disclosures will clearly revealthat while certain needs were indeed fulfilled by each of the structuresthey define, major problems remained unsatisfied. It is to the solutionof those problems that the present invention is directed.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention toprovide a new and improved support assem bly for connecting members suchas shelf brackets, partitions and the like with specially designed freestanding or wall mounted uprights in a manner which permits desiredassemblies to be quickly and easily created with a minimum of labor andnone of the tedium of alignment heretofore inherent in such structures.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a support assemblyfor shelf brackets, partitions and the like which eliminates the need toalign the slots in a plurality of uprights while obtaining a structurewhich is quickly, easily and accurately leveled.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved support assembly especially suited for mounting level shelvingto vertically disposed standards irrespective of the condition of levelof the floors and walls in the room where such system is used.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved support assembly which Another object of the present inventionis to provide a new and improved support assembly comprising a speciallydesigned upright standard having locking means comprising a centralchannel having a plurality of axially extending grooves defined thereinon opposed faces thereof, the grooves on each face being disposed in twogroups continguous with an intermediate pocket portion disposed insubstantial registry with the employs a unique upright standard having aplurality of opposing grooves and a pair of facing pocket portionsdisposed within a central channel defined in the standard, a threadedbolt, and an intermediate member slideable within and between saidpocket portions to a preselected position and thereafter coactable withsaid channel and said bolt to readily secure said intermediate member tosaid standard where it may then be connected to a shelf bracket orpartition to secure said bracket or partition relative to said standard.

corresponding pocket portion of the other face, said grooves coactingwith a threaded bolt to provide locking means to secure a connectormember disposed in and between said pocket portions to the standard.

These and still other objects as shall hereinafter appear are readilyfulfilled by the present invention in a remarkably unexpected fashion asshall be readily discerned from a careful consideration of the followingdetailed description of exemplary embodiments of my invention,especially when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein like reference numerals identify similar parts throughout theseveral views and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a book shelf embodying the supportassembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a frontalelevation of an assembly embodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on line III-III of FIG. 2 having a shelfbracket mounted in operative position; FIG. 4'is a cross section takenon line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is anexploded view showing therelationship between an assemblyembodying the present invention anda support bracket; and

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of an alternative embodiment of theintermediate member of this invention.

Referringto FIG. 1 of the drawing, one embodiment of the novel supportassembly of the present invention, identified by the general referencenumeral 10, is shown-in the highly usefulsetting to mount a plurality ofbook shelves 12' on brackets 14' which extend outwardly from standards16.

As shown in FIGS 2-5, each assembly 10 is created by the coaction ofstandard 16, an intermediate member 18 and a bolt 20 as shall now bedescribed.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention, standard 16 comprises a baseportion 22 having a first flange member 24 and a second flange member 26extending outwardly therefrom in a plane generally normal thereto. Eachflange member 24, 26'is provided with an inner face portion 28 and anouter face portion 30 having an intermediate or pocket portion 32interposed therebetween. Each face portion 28, 30 of flanges 24, 26 isprovided with a plurality of longitudinally extending substantiallyparallel grooves 34, the purpose of which shall appear.

The generally U-shaped recess defined intermediate flange members 24, 26shall for purposes of this description be called central channel 36.

Pocket portions 32 are disposed in substantial registry with each otherand coact with each other to define means for receiving, guiding andholding intermediate member 18.

Intermediate member 18 is a relatively thin flat strip having a lengthsubstantially less than standard 16 and a width such that when member 18is inserted into standard l6, a'portion at each edge thereof enters theadjacent pocket portion 32.

Each member 18 is provided with a circular opening 38 and a plurality ofbracket receiving openings 40 adapted to receive any of the currentlyavailable shelf brackets. Suitable openings 40 may be defined as slots(see FIG. 2) or key holes (see FIG. 6) or as any other shape which issuitable to receive and hold such brackets as may be available from timeto time.

The locking relationship in my assembly can be obtained by utilizing thesystem which I have designed in and for my standard. Referring to FIGS.2-5, the threaded portion 42 of bolt 20 passes through opening 38 ofmember 18 and lockingly engages the grooves 34 defined in the centralchannel 36 of standard 16 to secure intermediate member 18 to thestandard at a preselected location. Intermediate member 18, thuslocated, is secured in place by tightening bolt 20.

A description of an exemplary installation using bookshelves as arepresentative structure with which to employ my invention will now bepresented to assist in the understanding of its function and to enhancethe appreciation of its many advantages and conveniences.

To assemble the representative structure, such as the bookshelves shownin FIG. 1, a plurality of standards 16 manufactured in accordance withmy description are bolted to the selected supporting surface such as thewall illustrated at 11.

With the present invention, it is no longer essential for utility toexactly align each of the standards 16 to assure that each l) is exactlyparallel with every other and (2) that each of the slots disposedtherein are in horizontal alignment with the corresponding slots of eachother standard. Instead, the standards of this invention are justmounted, quickly and easily, in any suitable fashion as with woodscrews, molly fasteners, nails and the like.

Next an intermediate member 18 is inserted axially into pocket portions32, one in each standard 16 for each shelf 12 to be installed, and movedto the desired location relative to the length of standard 16 whereuponthe member 18 is fixed in that position by the tightening of bolt 20,which extends through opening 38 into channel 36, until threaded portion42 firmly and lockingly engages grooves 34 disposed on inner faceportions 28 of flange members 24, 26.

This operation is repeated in the second standard and such additionalstandards as the length of shelf 12 may dictate, slight care beingexercised simply to align each of the intermediate members 18 so thatwhen shelf 12 is placed upon the bracket 14 inserted into bracketreceiving openings 40, shelf 12 will be level.

The connection of the bracket 14 to the intermediate member 18 iseffected in the well known manner as by hooking the prongs shown in FIG.into slots disposed in member 18 or by inserting shanks having enlargedheads (not shown) into the key holes as shown in FIG. 6 or by any otherwell known arrangement for connecting such brackets to conventionalsupport standards.

When each bracket 14 is attached to its corresponding intermediatemember 18 as by the insertion of the respective bracket prong 15 intoits corresponding slot 40, shelf member 12 may be placed upon thecooperating brackets 14 to create the desired structure.

The same procedure is followed with respect to each of any other shelves12 employed in the structure. Only in the installation and location ofintermediate members 18 is any degree of care required to level theshelf and then only to the extent that each member 18 should behorizontally aligned with the corresponding member on the adjacentstandard. It should be noted, however, the alignment obtained can occuron any segment of the entire height of the upright standard and isachieved simply by the adjustment of a single bolt.

The foregoing procedure is followed as many times as may be needed toprovide the desired number of shelves of whatever length is wanted.

From the foregoing it becomes apparent that the bracket, intermediatemember, and bolt cooperate to define an assembly which can readily beemployed to easily and quickly install any type of commerciallyavailable shelves and brackets with a substantial reduction in the timeand effort required to complete the job.

It is, of course, understood that while the invention is illustratedwith respect to wall mounted standards, it is likewise readily employedwith free standing standards, suspended standards or any other standardwhich can be maintained in a relatively stationary position.

The assemblage is also well adapted for use with free standing standardsor uprights which are set in a weighted base member (not shown) tocreate modular displays and room partitions. The improved assemblyherein described and illustrated can also be used with amulti-directional standard, e.g., two, three or four directional, usingthe linkage described in my previous U. S. Pat. No. 3,555,715 whichissued Jan. 19, l97l.

From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that a new and improved supportassembly has been herein described and illustrated which fulfills all ofthe aforestated objectives in a remarkably unexpected fashion. It is, ofcourse, understood that such alterations, modifications and adaptationsas may readily occur to the artisan when confronted with this disclosureare int eded to be embraced within the spirit of the present inventionwhich is limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A support assembly comprising in combination a support standardhaving a channel defined therein having opposing faces on the sidesthereof, each of said faces having longitudinally extending groovesdefined thereupon and a pocket portion disposed therewithin; anintermediate member insertable within said pocket portions and slideabletherewithin to a preselected position relative to said standard, saidmember having an opening and a plurality of spaced bracket receivingmeans defined therethrough extending axially of said channel and a boltextending through said opening into said channel for locking engagementwith said grooves whereupon said standard, said intermediate member andsaid bolt are integrally joined to receive and support a bracketattachable to said intermediate member.

2. A support assembly according to claim 1 in which said bolt has athreaded shank for locking engagement within said grooves in saidchannel.

3. A support assembly according to claim 1 in which said intermediatemember comprises a plate having an upper portion and a lower portion,said upper portion having said opening defined therethrough, said lowerportion having said bracket receiving means defined therein comprising aplurality of spaced axially aligned slots extending therethrough.

4. A support assembly according to claim 1 in which said intermediatemember comprises a plate having an upper portion and a lower portion,said upper portion having said opening defined therethrough, said lowersaid intermediate member comprises a thin elongated strip having meansdefined therethrough for securing said strip to said standard andadditional means defined therein for connecting a bracket thereto.

1. A support assembly comprising in combination a support standardhaving a channel defined therein having opposing faces on the sidesthereof, each of said faces having longitudinally extending groovesdefined thereupon and a pocket portion disposed therewithin; anintermediate member insertable within said pocket portions and slideabletherewithin to a preselected position relative to said standard, saidmember having an opening and a plurality of spaced bracket receivingmeans defined therethrough extending axially of said channel and a boltextending through said opening into said channel for locking engagementwith said grooves whereupon said standard, said intermediate member andsaid bolt are integrally joined to receive and support a bracketattachable to said intermediate member.
 2. A support assembly accordingto claim 1 in which said bolt has a threaded shank for lockingengagement within said grooves in said channel.
 3. A support assemblyaccording to claim 1 in which said intermediate member comprises a platehaving an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion havingsaid opening defined therethrough, said lower portion having saidbracket receiving means defined therein comprising a plurality of spacedaxially aligned slots extending therethrough.
 4. A support assemblyaccording to claim 1 in which said intermediate member comprises a platehaving an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion havingsaid opening defined therethrough, said lower portion having saidbracket receiving means defined therein comprising a plurality of spacedaxially aligned key holes extending therethrough.
 5. A support assemblyaccording to claim 1 in which said intermediate member comprises a thinelongated strip having means defined therethrough for securing saidstrip to said standard and additional means defined therein forconnecting a bracket thereto.